Nothing like the Isil Tunnelhold the wherhandlers used to live in, these tunnels are just big enough for dark living spaces for the handlers and their whers, a small hatching sands, and a small lounge for the whers and any unbonded whers during the day. Wherlings move straight into the dens after bonding.

With a little over a turn of firsthand experience as Wherhandler Leader now under Darilex's belt, he felt he was doing better with the responsibility he had accepted at the Matriarch's request. Of course he was no perfect leader, but he got by and had learned how to juggle the various things in his life. However, his time with his daughter had suffered, since even though he had handed over some of his patients to other mindhealers in the Weyr, he still insisted on doing mindhealing before the workday for the wherhandlers began. Between that and his work as the Wherhandler Leader, he had little free time anymore. He couldn't imagine being a Weyrleader, since they had to keep track of so much more, he imagined.

However, over the past few months something else had been on his mind from time to time. The last time he had really sat and had a conversation with Rhea had been when the younger dualhandler asked Darilex about Runs and advice on them since Rhea was in a similar boat that Darilex had been in when he had first bonded to Darisk. Now, however, Darilex had something else he wanted to talk to Rhea about, and after some schedule shifting in his own schedule and playing message tag with Rhea for a while, he managed to get some time set aside to welcome Rhea into his quarters for dinner one night, though at this point it was very early morning for the rest of the Weyr, with the dragons still asleep and the sun not quite ready to rise yet.

With the invitation extended, encouraging Rhea politely to join him for dinner that night, Darilex made sure to have two meals sent down to his space, including a few different drink options. Once the ordered items arrived, Darilex thanked the drudges and helped them place everything on his dining table, thanking them again before they left to return to their other work. His two whers curled up with each other in their shared wallow in a darker corner of the fairly spacious cavern room. At this hour his whers would be relaxing and would like be asleep soon, but for now, they relaxed and watched Darilex. He made sure to keep the lights for the dinner at the table only on the other side of the room so they wouldn't bother the whers.

Once finished though, Darilex only had to wait, though he imagined he wouldn't have to wait long, as Rhea seemed like the punctual sort from what Darilex knew of him so far.

Rhea's relationship with leadership had always been a wary one. As a child, his leaders had been his parents and they had dictated a very strict lifestyle for him. His rebellions had been small -- sneaking away silent to play with friends or even just sit and watch others, saving dinner scraps to feed an injured dog -- but they had been his stances that he took all the same in declaring his personhood. And then Rheask had come into his life and everything had changed. His parents, his leaders, had abandoned him and Rhea clung to what he had left and fought for what he believed to be important. He fought alone, though, because he already knew the betrayal adults could bring. It had saved him his sister and Rina was doing well working her way to her Journey knots, but it had cost the wherhold leadership's trust in him and so he had been kept close enough to watch but no more.

Nearly a year ago now, Rhea had asked Darilex, the new leader, to borrow a few minutes of time to pick his brain in preparation for Rask's first run -- whenever it came. He had been polite, of course, but they had not started a particular friendship from it -- at least as far as Rhea knew. The invitation to dinner, therefore, was disconcerting. If he had done something wrong, it made more sense for his Guard Captain to speak with him first and Rhea doubted a meal would be involved. But Rhea did not think he had done anything particularly notable recently, either, short of being the only individual in the guard team capable of corralling Sterling -- which was a lot like trying to herd felines, Rhea had to admit -- and he was just lucky the two were friends enough that they got along as well as they did.

Answers would come in time, the dualhandler had to assume as the dark of night still veiled early morning skies and Rhea left a dozing Rheask and Rask in his room after a busy night at watch before walking to the Wherhandler Leader's quarters. He knocked on the man's door at the requested time -- if not a few minutes early. "Good evening, sir, it is Rhea," he called through the door to inform Darilex of his arrival.

As he had thought, the knock came only moments after Darilex had finished preparations, the knock was quickly followed by a voice confirming who it was as Darilex crossed over to answer the door. He put a welcoming smile on his face as he opened and greeted Rhea.

"Right on time," he said in a complimentary tone toward the younger male before he stepped to the side and waved him in. "I'm glad you could accept my invitation," he said as he closed the door behind Rhea and showed him to the dining area with the table with its meal spread out over it already. "Go ahead, take a seat, what would you like to drink," he asked as he filled one glass with water and set it in front of Rhea so he would at least have that and something else if he desired.

"How was your night? Not too stressful I hope," he spoke, hoping to encourage a bit of light conversation as they settled about their meal. He had things he wished to speak about yes, but he didn't want to jump into any of it too quickly. At the least, he wanted Rhea to settle in a little bit before bombarding him with any more serious topics or questions.

Once Rhea had whatever drinks he desired, Darilex took his own seat after filling his own glasses, one with water, and the other with a fruit juice. Darilex had been staying away from wine almost completely ever since his daughter had been brought to him by his late wife's sister, which still didn't seem so long ago to him.

When Darilex opened the door, Rhea gave him a nod of his head in respectful greeting. "The invitation is very much appreciated, sir," he responded as he stepped inside and took the offered seat. "Water suits me well, sir," Rhea answered, not one to ask for anything more than what was offered, especially if it was not required. He took a drink as Darilex poured his own drinks and studied the spread before them.

"How was your night? Not too stressful I hope."

"Business as usual," Rhea answered with a small smile and a shake of his head. After turns as a handler, he'd become used to the patrols and, between Rheask and Rask, patrols even went easier than before, three whers covering more territory than two ever would between him and his patrol partner, Sterling. "I certainly won't complain about that," he added. Rheask would forever sport scars from the earlier run-ins with local feline communities -- including one deadly attack on Paiseantath's clutch. "If only every patrol were quiet."

Rhea was as polite as ever, answering Darilex's words with well worded statements. He knew how to show those in authority respect, but Darilex already knew that of course, as Rhea had been about just as respectful during their chat about being a dualhandler to a male and a female wher both.

"If only every patrol were quiet."

To that, Darilex nodded in solemn agreement. "Very true, but at least things have been quieter these days than they were in the beginning," he agreed with the lad before taking a sip of his water and then gesturing for Rhea to help himself to the food spread out on the table.

"Please, help yourself. I have plenty here, in fact, I think they may have given me a bit too much," he said with a soft chuckle, waiting to let his guest serve himself first. Darilex may have held the rank here, but Rhea was his guest and so Darilex was going to let him have to first servings of the food spread out. Once Rhea took his, Darilex carefully filled his own plate from the spread before them, settling back in his chair to sample a bit of the wherry in gravy. He let Rhea enjoy a bit of food as well before he brought up what he had really invited him here for.

"I'm sure you have been wondering why I invited you for a meal," Darilex started with. "I am generally not one to beat around the bush, so I'll come right out and tell you. After looking over your file, and seeing how well you work and handle your fellows," he of course, meant Sterling, "I believe that I see some potential in you. You're young, but you have been a handler with Rheask for a while now, and you seem to have been able to take on Rask without much problem as well. Your personality, how you handle people around you, and how you handle your own whers on top of your turns of experience as a handler all make you a very good candidate for leadership positions."

He decided to pause there for a moment to let Rhea take that in, taking a sip from one of his drinks before he continued. "What say you about that, Rhea," he asked the younger dualhandler, giving him a chance to voice his thoughts on what Darilex had just told him.

"Between the dragons, whers and day whers on constant patrol, I think the felines have learned it's best to just leave this area alone," Rhea agreed with Darilex's assessment, "and I'm sure everyone is glad to keep it that way. It still amazes me that some southerners keep them as pets." He had seen one particular southern woman before walking one around on a chain in the evening and all he'd been able to think about was it turning on her and ripping her throat out. That justicar rider had one, as well.

Rhea shook his head before, at Darilex's invitation, partaking of the food before him with a murmur of gratitude and a recognition of the amount of food brought. Rhea was still a young adult, but he had never been the biggest of eaters even during his growing years. He filled his plate with a healthy spread, waiting for Darilex to serve himself, as well, before taking his first bite.

He had not realized how hungry he had been apparently, and Rhea was happy to settle into a silent meal without any attempts at continuing conversation from Darilex. When Darilex did speak up again, however, Rhea's silverware stilled before he set it down and finished the bite in his mouth, listening closely because, yes, he had been wondering why the sudden meal invitation.

It was a surprising topic of conversation, to say the least. Rhea had gone mostly unnoticed his whole life, slipping under the radar as much by design as by chance. He had not thought anyone would pay much attention to him, especially not leadership after behaving himself appropriately since the incident back in Isil. Even when Darilex spoke of handling his fellow handlers, Rhea never thought of that particularly as leadership. It was mediation, if anything, an attempt to keep the peace in the group and make sure no one got left behind or went excluded or unheard. Rhea had always been keen on that since he had been so often overlooked.

"I think you do me a great service with your words alone, sir," Rhea began, trying to navigate himself through his surprise. "I have always been more a part of the group rather than leading it, so I am not sure how skilled I would be in such a position, but I will of course take any responsibility given to me with the greatest respect for it and put my full effort towards fulfilling it." "Did you have a particular plan in mind? Generally team second and third positions are assigned by the guard captain," he added, wary as to what bounds Darilex may be toeing between his position as Wherhandler leader and Moon Fall's own captain's autonomy.

Rhea handled his surprise well it seemed, he saw those signs of it with his mindhealer trained eye, but Rhea handled it well, not letting it overtake him or let it fumble his words. He chose his words carefully still, and Darilex approved of how he kept himself composed. He particularly liked how Rhea seemed willing to take on whatever responsibility Darilex wished to present to him. That was what he had hoped Rhea would do, and it made him feel assured he had indeed seen potential in Rhea.

"Did you have a particular plan in mind? Generally team second and third positions are assigned by the guard captain,"

Darilex smiled slightly and nodded in response before answering verbally.

"I have spoken with Moonfall's current captain as a fellow captain, and I have been given permission to put you where I see fit. I wish to give you responsibility and some leadership experience, as well as help to mentor you in leadership in my free time with the hope that perhaps you can become a leader for the wherhandlers yourself in time. I therefore present to you two options. We move you to my guard team as a Guard Third or Guard Second, or you may stay in your current team and be promoted up to Guard Second. We would have you placed in the Third position, but another was recently placed there. I would prefer to have you closer to me in my Guard team, but I understand if you wish to stay in your current team, as I believe you have been with that team for a quite some time now."

Darilex paused briefly to let Rhea think it over for a moment before he added, "Please, take your time to think, if you cannot give me an answer tonight, then take a couple of days and get back to me about it. I understand that I am potentially presenting you with a lot."

It was one thing to be told he was being considered for a position as guardthird or second, but another entirely to be told Darilex was already considering Rhea to be a suitable wherhandler leader. His eyes widened and it took a couple seconds before he realized he had stopped breathing and had to remind himself to do so. Leader? Him? Without any previous leadership experience yet? He could fail horribly as a second or third. Should Darilex really be looking that far ahead?

At the very least, Rhea realized, he shouldn't be. One thing at a time. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath in and then let it out.

His position and team. Immediately, Rhea recognized that if he was to receive training for such a lofty position as Wherhandler Leader, then working beside Darilex would be the most beneficial position for him, but there were other things to consider...or maybe more other people...or person. Rhea sighed and his brows creased because Sterling had been acting up possibly even more than usual recently and Rhea knew there were few others on the team who could and would work with her as easily as the two seemed to click. It was why they were permanently paired up, after all and, even if Sterling was physically older, the dualhandler couldn't help but feel like he was the one more liable, more responsible. Almost like Rina, but not quite. "I recognize the benefits that would come with training alongside you on your team, sir, but I think I would like to take a day or two to consider each option," he finally ceded, "My patrol partner and I have been working together since she graduated last turn and I want to make sure she feels comfortable working with others before I leave her."

Darilex let Rhea answer in his own time, and when he finally did, like before, his words seemed thought through. Darilex liked that, that Rhea was thinking things through, even requesting some time to think about it as well as talk to his current patrol partner. Darilex nodded in understanding.

"That is perfectly understandable, please, take your time to consider what it is I'm presenting to you. I understand your desire to check in with your partner first and make decisions from there. If anything, I thank you for considering my offer." From there, Darilex gestured to the table. "By all means, enjoy the rest of your meal, and feel free to ask me any questions you may have."

So it was that Rhea would talk to his patrol partner and make his decision about the options Darilex had given him. While Darilex knew what he hoped for more, he respected the lad's ability to think about others that a change might affect. He hoped he would hear his answer relatively soon though.